Skip this part if you don't want to see me replying to a few of these reviews.
Rifful:
"I think the whole 'battling his horcrux in his mind' thing is way out of line, out of canon, and out of order."
Out of line? Out of canon? Out of order? Welcome to fanfiction, noob. That's what this website is about— injecting your own ideas into canon and changing it to suit your needs.
rescue 007:
"U shoulda said in the description that his is a HarryP/whatever the fuck pops in your mind, crossover."
That's... what I... Did? Can you not read? SMH.
silvereagle2121:
"hey cool story. I am enjoying reading it but I am starting to dislike how you keep jumping from dealing with one crossover to the next. there does not seem to be much continuity; it is more like a series of episodes rather than a single unified story. you might want to see about changing that in the future."
Not much continuity? I'm currently fusing Ranma's Orochi arc with Devil May Cry (Orochi used to be in Mundus' army) and the concept of Orochi Blood Riot from King of Fighters as well Harry himself there using his magic on an errand given by the Leanansidhe (Dresden Files). How is that not unified? The only thing that's not in this part is Stargate SG-1...
I don't understand the reasoning behind your logic, sorry.
To some reviewers:
No, Harry won't go in the Fairy Tail world. Stop asking me :P
Now, on with the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any other fandom I manage to squeeze in this story.
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Lightning Dragon's Roar
A Harry Potter Fanfiction
By Zero Rewind
© 2016
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Chapter 66: Gaia Pit (2)
"So, this is Ryugenzawa?" I said after twenty minutes of complete silence— aside from the ambient noise of the forest, and our crossing through it.
We had disembarked a while back, with no one questioning the fact that the train suffered some issues when I had launched my electric power at the demonic aspect of Ranma's curse. I supposed it made sense; they didn't hear the unholy shrieks it made; and they sure as shit didn't see it.
I made sure of that.
Who knew what would have happened if some idiot walked in?
"I know." Ranma agreed wryly, scratching the back of his neck in irritation. "We're more lost than old Lost Boy, right now."
I gave him a strange look, not truly understanding what he was talking about.
"Ryoga." He clarified. "He has a horrible sense of direction." Ranma explained, and I gave him a dubious look.
"How bad could it possibly be?" I questioned.
"He can get lost inside of a house." Ranma said pinching the bridge of his nose. "One time, he stayed all day trying to find the exit, only to reach the bathroom every time."
"How?" I asked incredulously, and got a shrug for my trouble.
That's when a sudden feeling overcame me. It was quite strange, and almost uncomfortable; akin to walking in a sauna, really. The ambient power here was quite high, almost heavy on the atmosphere, in a way.
"Do you feel that?" Ranma said, feeling both alert and confused.
"Yeah." I noted, taking a step back, the feeling dissipating.
I took a step forward; it was back with a vengeance, a weight bearing down on my shoulders.
"Hm." I said, finally understanding what this phenomenon was. "At least we're going the right way. We crossed the threshold of this place, meaning that the Gaia Pit is somewhere ahead, most likely. Meaning, the Demons will be upon us soon."
Ranma nodded, and shook off whatever unease he felt with surprising ease, slapping a cold, calculating look on his face.
Didn't even know he had it in him, wow.
A few minutes later, and still no incident. We simply kept pushing through the thick brush, avoiding some of the wilder— and somehow much larger— animals. Ranma himself almost ran away from a rather gigantic wildcat the moment he laid eyes on it.
"I don't want to talk about it." The boy said, his eyes steeling themselves a bit after that particular debacle.
I nodded, and let him have his privacy, as it wasn't my place to demand answers, and this line of questioning didn't serve the purpose for which we were here.
That was, to save his fiancée Akane, and then to find the mirror called 'Shimmer'.
After I had cured the boy's curse, he seemed eager to repay me, so I figured I'd drag him along this mission; he was fairly strong from what I could tell.
Even if I did beat him in a fight, I doubted that he was weak, in any way. I simply overtook him with overwhelming force before he could react. Likely, he was one of those people that liked to prolong fights; simply increasing their strength level to match that of their opponent's very slowly, thus drawing the fight out.
I, on the other hand, always wished to end disputes with quickness and efficiency. Edge to the heart. Breakdown Fist to vital points. Lightning Blades for the same purpose. Heavenward Halberd to destroy shielding. Thunder Wave to indiscriminately strike at all enemies around me. Roar to obliterate the opposition.
All of my attacks had been tailored for the utmost destruction of other humans and humanoids, with a few others meant solely to fight large creatures like dragons. There was no mercy. A hit from any of those could be lethal to anyone and anything— even stronger beings, sometimes.
The only one who had taken all I've had to offer and kept going was the Emperor of Demons, Mundus himself. He seemed to be on a completely different level than that of his minions, easily taking on Dante, Vergil, and I while weakened— and still winning easily.
It was unreal, and I was about to step into the lair of his former employees, so to speak.
One of which was an earthly deity by the name of Orochi.
§Concentrate.§ Balthazar admonished.
§Right.§ I hissed back, feeling a little sheepish and embarrassed at getting distracted while in enemy territory. That's when the smell began to waft in my nose.
It was a stench I was familiar with, at this point, though I really wished I wasn't.
The tangy smell of blood lingered in the air.
I made a few sniffs, trying to pinpoint the source of the smell, but I had no idea how to follow something like this. I made a random guess at where the smell seemed to be strongest, and began moving in that direction.
Ranma merely gave me a strange look, but shrugged and kept going.
We didn't really know where we were going, but splitting up was usually the worst idea. Splitting up was only an option in certain situations— however, for the most part, there was strength in numbers; it was one of the most basic tactics used in the animal kingdoms.
Predators always thought twice before attacking a full pack of wildebeests or zebra, etc.
The smell began to get stronger; we were getting closer to the source. I pushed one final branch before we exited out of the brush and found ourselves in a large, grassy clearing with the large mouth of a cave ahead.
I would have smiled, if I didn't see the source of the smell. Many of the gigantic animals we saw beforehand lay beaten, bloodied, and utterly broken on the grassy clearing before us.
And, at the mouth of the cave, lay an unconscious, giant three headed dog; a Cerberus like Fluffy, not like the ice Devil from Temen Ni Gru.
Ranma and I passed by the beaten animals, giving them quick glances, just to make sure they wouldn't spring on their feet and attack us, before moving to the Cerberus.
"What the hell is this thing?" Ranma said when we got up close and personal with it. He poked it without a care in the world.
It did not move.
"It's out like a light." I said with a loud whistle that also didn't wake it up, before explaining the situation to Ranma. "This is a Cerberus."
"Uh, like the Greek hellhound protecting the entrance to the underworld?" Ranma scrunched his face up in confusion as we walked slowly past the creature, into the cave.
I frowned at the use of the term, remembering the beasts that surrounded the Leanansidhe at all times. Now those things were hellhounds.
"Yes, based on that myth." I answered quietly as the light gave way to darkness as we ventured deeper into the cave.
I pulled out my wand and incanted "Lumos!"
The end of my wand illuminated, casting light in my immediate vicinity. There were even more unconscious animals— Gytrashes, to be precise: large, vicious, nocturnal white dogs.
"Woah!" I heard Ranma exclaim in alarm, looking around frantically.
"I know." I said, emulating the martial artist's behavior and checking for threats from any directions. Satisfied that, for the moment, we were safe, I examined the creatures' bodies for any signs of damage.
Each of these dogs sported small bruises. Hm.
Damage caused by punches and kicks? I wasn't sure.
"These are pretty small wounds." I noted as Ranma also began to look these animals over.
"Ah." Ranma said knowingly, tapping the dog on its bruise, making it whimper even in unconsciousness. "I recognize this bruise pattern anywhere. Akane's wrecked her way through here."
"Yeah?" I said in astonishment. "Beating a Cerberus with your bare fists is not an easy feat. You're telling me that she brute strength tore through all of these animals?"
I mean, sure, to someone on my level, a Cerberus was just a joke, at this point. A well placed Edge could tear out its heart. A couple of Breakdown Fists to its 3 heads would also incapacitate— if not outright kill it.
Still, knocking a Cerberus unconscious with brute strength alone… Well…
Ranma nodded, his eyes glittering in amusement and a hint of pride. "Yep."
A moment passed between of us, sharing in the amusement and incredulity of the situation.
"Heh." I broke the moment. "Let's go find her. Can't let her have all the fun, huh?"
The long tunnel eventually gave way to an incredibly large, cavernous chamber within the mountain. And what we saw was simply breathtaking.
"All of this— here." I said with wide eyes, cancelling my Lighting Charm and pocketing my wand, staring at the sight before us. "What the hell?"
§An entire biome within the mountains and the underground.§ Balthazar hissed out. §Incredible.§
"I don't even have words good enough." Ranma said, staring at the structures before us.
It was one big gigantic cavern, as tall as three skyscrapers— except it went down, rather than up— and as large as ten soccer fields. At the top of this cavern lay a large light source— one of identical color to the dark sun seen in Hell, casting its unnatural, unholy light onto whatever lay below.
The air was thick with fog, and smoke coming from fiercely burning fires amidst long rivers of lava below, the smell almost too much to bear, but I mastered myself.
Almost paradoxically, I could make out the a primordial looking forest— right next to the fucking magma— as well as a few structures beyond it which looked like temples of some sort, though I wasn't really sure, what with the smoke and fog disallowing me from fully ascertaining the situation.
"Gaia Pit, indeed." I muttered.
I turned my gaze to the right: a long, and winding pathway which lead steadily down, going through a few buildings which hugged the corners of the cavern— guard posts, I assumed— before leading into a subterranean cave. My gaze trailed downwards, seeing the exit at the bottom, leading into the dark looking forest.
This stupid faerie and her impossible requests.
I had to fight through all of this, just for a stupid mirror?
Bah, there was no time to cry about all this.
Get a grip, Potter.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and let out a sigh.
"All right." I said, feeling the place out with my Lightning before doing anything rash.
The tendrils of power snaked out of my body, tasting the foul air around them before moving outwards.
I winced as my energy collided with a barrier, some ten meters below our current position.
"Hm. It seems that if we jump down from here, we'll be obliterated by some kind of barrier." I said, reaching out as far forward as I could. "It extends for a fair bit, beyond my range, so I can only assume that it covers the entire area."
"Defense from aerial attack." Ranma nodded, understanding the concept, looking at the winding path with part worry and hope— most likely thinking of the possibility of Akane hopping down to her death long before we got here. "It makes sense."
"Come on." I said, and began to move down the path, Ranma following in my wake as we reached the first guard post in a minute's time, approaching the large structure carefully.
I had thought it would be a small thing, but it appeared as if I had misjudged the post's true size in my haste. Still, the place didn't seem to be special in any way. We simply had walked on a dark, dirt road lit up by a few torches, casting their light on the simplistic, one story structure next to a small gate.
Really, nothing seemed to be out of place.
Obviously, in response, my body reflexively tensed.
"Something's not right." Ranma commented, warily approaching the gate. "This is too easy. Why have a gate that's unguarded? You or I could just open it."
I nodded, but didn't go for the gate.
Strange, it felt like the ground beneath me was mushy, and wet. I looked down, and saw untouched dirt— yet it still felt squishy and wet.
Maybe the ground was like that, here, I started saying, but stopped when I realized how dumb that sounded. There was no water here— this place was filled with lava and fires. There was no way in hell— no pun intended— I was stepping on mud, right now.
That's when I felt the nausea building up in my stomach.
That was also quite strange, and not a little bit confusing.
I stepped in something squishy, and my body got queasy even though I didn't see, hear, or smell anything out of the ordinary.
My body got more and more tense as time went on.
That's when I understood.
§Illusion!§ Balthazar hissed out around the same time I grasped the situation we were in.
"Jump!" I yelled out, and jumped as high as I could, Ranma emulating my move. As I looked down, I saw the scene shimmer and crack, before breaking and revealing the bloodiest field I had ever seen in my life.
Bloodier than the Red Court Vampires' lair— dark light cast upon a ground so drenched in blood it almost looked like the soil on Mars. That's when the smell hit my overly sensitive nose, and I understood where my earlier nausea was coming from.
Aside from the copious amounts of blood, I could also smell various bodily fluids mixed in with the pervasive, cloying stench of decay.
It was absolutely filthy, and we had been traipsing through it without a care, completely unaware of it.
Even stranger, the blood began to converge in several spots around the spot Ranma and I landed.
"What is this?" Ranma asked quickly, already in a combat stance.
I didn't answer, simply watching the events unfold.
From the bloody soil rose the most horrific creatures I had seen to date. Their arms and legs were as red as the blood they were created from. The rest of their bodies? An almost pure white. Jagged, red spikes jutted out of their backs.
They were powerfully built, yet still retained an almost skeletal appearance; they stared at us with completely white eyes, prowling around us like a coordinated pack, baring their bloody fangs at us.
I had a few moments to examine their weapons— scythes made out of pure, reddish white energy, which vibrated as the monsters moved forward, almost flying at us with inhuman roars which made my hair stand on end.
I ducked underneath the first swing, hearing the gentle hum of the weapon as it hit nothing but the air above me. The Demon snarled before spinning with its scythe, using its initial strike's momentum to add power to the kick it sent at my midsection.
I backed out of the range, before rushing back in with a jab, a furiously spinning drill of bluish white Lightning digging into its side, making it screech in pain as a loud squelch was heard, my face sprayed with the filth it was made from.
The monster heaved, and sagged against my form.
It was dead.
Or so I thought.
The blood construct dissolved, quickly forming a puddle below me.
There was a bright light behind me, and it was all I could do to turn around, and weave around the crescent waves of red energy sent my way.
They exploded brilliantly, tearing out deep gouges in the rock behind me,.
I was not damaged, but the experience was rattling, to say the least.
I was not a weak man, by any measure, but the amount of power packed into those strikes was nothing to scoff at.
If any of those had even touched me, it would have been bad— not the "I stubbed my toe" bad, but the "my arm was there a second ago!" bad.
Just what were these things?
"They can shoot energy from their scythes!" I heard Ranma's shout, followed immediately by the sound of a pain filled shriek as the ground shook from a strong impact.
I turned to see the Demon I had just dispatched come out of the bloody puddle as if I hadn't even touched it. It was joined by four of its companions, circling me like a pack of hyena would circle weak prey.
"I've got a better one!" I said as I met its scythe with a Lightning Blade. "They dissolve and come back up after you kill them!"
I heard a loud curse in Japanese as a reply.
I would have grinned, if I wasn't too busy trying to fending off four of these monstrosities at once. If there were bystanders looking onto this fight, they would have seen a truly intricate, deadly dance of blades, accentuated by bright flashes of red and blue, and the occasional thud as the Demons began to succumb to my powers.
From my point of view, though, it was a total clusterfuck. I had to accurately predict the attacks of four different monsters, each attacking from a side— it meant that I wouldn't know what half of them were doing, as I didn't have eyes in the back of my head— but I seemed to be doing spectacularly.
I sidestepped a downward, vertical slash of these energy scythes, before kicking the Demon holding it, while simultaneously grabbing its energy scythe, ripping it from the creature's grasp. I felt its power pulse against mine as I drove the blade into the Demon's brain.
Unlike before, it didn't dissolve— instead, it convulsed and shrieked, before sagging and falling down with a thud.
I grinned savagely and faced the others.
"Their own weapons can kill them!" I shouted as the previously difficult fight turned into a one sided massacre at the drop of the hat.
They fought back— oh they definitely did— but now that my blows actually did something, it wasn't much of a fight, I noted as I swung the weapon horizontally, cleaving through the remaining three, their upper bodies detaching themselves at the waist, blood spraying everywhere.
I grimaced and waited until the spray ended, before grabbing my wand and waving it at myself.
Almost immediately, the blood and other fluids vanished off of my person, returning me to my previously clean state.
To the side, I saw Ranma finishing off his last opponent, dancing around its strikes before grabbing onto the Demon and throwing it off of the cliffside, where it fell onto the barrier and got disintegrated in an instant.
A few seconds passed, and I waved my wand on the other fighter's form, confident that we had taken care of the problem at hand. A cursory gaze to the ground below us showed that it had turned back into a dark brown soil, cleansed of the corruption it was once filled with.
"Thanks." Ranma said shortly, eyes looking around warily as we both moved forward, the scythes we had taken from these monsters crumbling into dust in our hands.
"Looks like we got all of them." I noted as we began to move forward.
"Yeah, but..." Ranma trailed off.
I knew what he wanted to say.
Where was Akane if this was the only way through?
"Maybe she beat the previous guards and went further in?" I answered his unspoken question. "There's no way to know for sure. It's possible that she's not even in here—"
"No, no, she's definitely in here." Ranma said. "Too stubborn to quit, that uncute tomboy."
I shut my mouth, simply nodding at his words as we reached the subterranean cave ahead.
Unlike the entrance, this cave was lit with torches, showing off two separate paths.
I swore.
"Splitting up is always bad." I ran a hand through my hair, not sure how to proceed.
"No choice." Ranma said, before taking a step forward.
"Look." I stopped him. "You don't have to do this— not even to satisfy your debt to me or anything— you can still back out."
The other boy gave me a surprised look, before smiling.
"Akane might still be here." He said simply— did he need to say more?
"Okay." I nodded. "I understand. Just... Take care of yourself. These Demons thrive on fear and playing on your weaknesses. They will use them against you. They'll do anything to gain the upper hand. Don't play with them. Just kill them and move on."
"Heh." Ranma rapped his fist over his heart and gave the most overconfident grin he could manage. "It'll take more than that to bring me down."
I smiled back, and went my own way. "Don't die out there— we have a rematch, remember?"
"Yeah!" I heard him shout as I went deeper and deeper within the tunnel. I looked back for a moment, debating the merits of this idea, before shaking my head and moving forward.
§It's strange.§ Balthazar hissed as the long path turned to the right.
§What is?§ I asked, running my hand over the earthen wall, before dusting it off.
§I'm not really sure.§ Balthazar said. §I feel at ease, like I've just gotten home after a long time overseas.§
§Home?§ I repeated in confusion. §How? You've never been here before, have you?§
§No.§ Balthazar denied. §And that's what unnerves me. I've been feeling this way ever since we got off of that train.§
I considered the viper's words as I continued my way through the long, winding tunnels, before reaching what seemed to be a large cavern. The path before me had ended abruptly, leading to a straight drop into a pit filled with lava.
I backed away slightly, not particularly enjoying the waves of heat the molten rock below gave off. If it was this hot from here, then down there must have been horrific.
But, while there was no bridge, or path, there were many floating rocks, moving in patterns I couldn't quite follow. They went up, down, left, right, in circles, triangles, squares, and other such patterns, each rock covering the other before I could fully ascertain their trajectories.
§You could simply fly past the obstacles in your path.§ Balthazar noted.
§I could have tried jumping down at the beginning, and I would have been disintegrated the moment I touched the barrier.§ I disagreed, drawing my Lightning out and trying to feel the room out for traps and whatnot.
There!
I felt something for a split second, but it escaped my notice quickly, as if startled at the presence of something else.
There was definitely a creature or some kind of entity here.
It was alive, and it was aware of me, as far as I could tell.
§The rocks started flying in a completely different pattern after that happened.§ Balthazar informed me.
I looked; he was right.
Some still floated around, some drastically changed their movements.
I flared my power.
That was a mistake.
All of the flying rocks stopped moving as I felt all of my hairs stand on end; it almost felt like those moments when you say something stupid in class, and everyone turns to look at you.
The whole chamber was now aware of my presence.
One of the boulders came flying at me at high speed— speed high enough that even my Chestnut Fist training was barely enough— forcing me to cast the strongest wand shield I could manage.
Just in time, my shield charm held as I was flung backwards by the momentum of the boulder which shattered upon impact. I rolled to reduce the damage from the impact, wincing at the flare of pain from my left elbow— scraped it, most likely.
A few more seconds of tumbling, and I was finally stationary.
Rattled, breathing hard, with a few cuts— but fine.
§Let's not try that again.§ Balthazar said.
§You're right.§ I got back up, dusting myself off and checking myself out. §Looks like we're doing this the hard way.§
I moved back to the edge and observed the obstacle course. The rocks had resumed their seemingly random movements, and I struggled to find a pattern.
Any use of magical power would set the room off again. Now, I could try to brute force my way past this place, destroying all of the rocks in my path, but who knew what else the room had in store?
§You could always turn back.§ Balthazar added.
§That was never an option.§ I retorted, still trying to understand everything about this room. §Shimmer might be down this path. It's also possible the other path leads to a dead end, or a completely different place. We just don't know, and I have a feeling that time is against us.§
A moment passed and Balthazar gave me the equivalent of a resigned sigh.
§You're right.§ Balthazar said. §No choice but to go forward. I will be an extra set of eyes.§
I nodded gratefully.
I had a feeling I would need them.
I watched the boulders for another minute, before making my first move: a simple hop on the first one. It went down for a second, before resuming its previous course, easily holding my weight.
A few seconds later, I jumped upwards, as high as I could, reaching one of the upper rocks, using it as a spring board and landing on an T shaped, spinning rock with really small edges, forcing me to use my arms to balance myself properly.
I couldn't stay here too long, or the vertigo alone would do me in.
I spotted my next stop, and timed the jump just right— it wouldn't do to get hit by the many, smaller rocks in my path and screw my trajectory— before leaping forward with such strength that the T shaped rock flew uncontrollably, smashing into the wall behind it, the impact sending an echo through the pit and the caves.
I landed safely, and took a deep breath, before reassessing my situation.
I was about three quarters of the way through— wait, was it just me or were the rocks moving even faster than before?
§The speed has increased.§ Balthazar confirmed. §I fear that using Lightning to saturate your nerves would also warrant the room's ire. Luckily, the patterns are still unchanged, so the odds are still in our favor.§
I nodded, spotting the one particular boulder I wanted to move onto— an elliptical one that would get me to the end. To get to it, there were four other large rocks I had to jump onto. Luckily they were floating in place, like a stairwell of sorts.
I waited for just the right moment, before ascending the "steps" with ease.
Before my mind could even say "this was too easy", the third rock I landed on suddenly plummeted to the bottom of the cavern, bringing me down with it.
Shit. It was a trick.
No choice!
Better to be treated as target practice than to be cooked alive by the steadily approaching magma. The Blue Light of the Potters answered my call, filling my body with power as I created footholds in midair, leaping from foothold to foothold in a frantic pace to make it to the end of the room.
I smashed and tore through any boulders that came my way, braving through the onslaught as I kept going upwards.
Then, it stopped.
The rocks froze again, before they all plummeted to the bottom.
One final leap, and I was at the other side, sporting various bruises and aches, out of breath, sweating like a hairy beast, but I made it.
Or so I thought.
The ground shook once more as it got brighter and brighter for some reason.
§Harry...!§ Balthazar said urgently as the air became hot, and the smell of brimstone reached my nose. §It's not over.§
I got to my feet in an instant, despite my aches and my tiredness, and looked down the pit.
I stifled a curse. The lava was rising— worse yet, at its center, the boulders formed a semblance of a face; or, whatever passed for one.
"You're mine!" A deep voice shook the room as the lava rose higher and higher, almost reaching my level.
§We should probably run.§ Balthazar started, but I was already sprinting by the time he finished, a river of white-hot molten rock at my back.
At that moment, I could only think of one thing: "Fuck you, Leanansidhe!"
Elsewhere, in the Nevernever, the faerie in question grinned as she heard the frantic cursing of yet another interesting human beside Harry Dresden, her own godson.